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Here are a few photos taken by us over the years
which should give you a flavour of the area around Al-Queria cottage,
the traditions and fiestas of the local people.
We have also included our photos of the impressive
monuments and buildings in the nearby cities which can only really
be done justice by a sightseeing visit.
As stunning as the great heritage sites are,
there are some equally interesting local sights and buildings which
reflect the history of this region.
Andalus barrios which really show how the old
settlements were constructed on Arabic lines with narrow, twisting
streets giving plenty of shade and defence opportunities, hill forts
and castles which controlled the surrounding land and strategic
points, ermitas and churches to support the local people in their
faith which still provides a structure to today's life.
Most villages have an "hermandad" or
brotherhood, attached to the church and these brotherhoods not only
organise the many religious processions and fiestas but also give
help and support to the local people.
Some of the fiestas are grand affairs which involve
the whole town or village whilst others are just very local to the
chapel or church and celebrated in a quieter way.
Ferias or fairs, are held at various times of
the year, usually in support of a saint's day and these can be very
lively with music and sideshows going on until the early hours.
The locals have centuries of practice at staying up to enjoy the
fairs although newcomers have to stretch their stamina levels just
to keep up....
The countryside surrounding Al-Queria cottage
is given over almost exclusively to olive farming. These tough trees
need little water, can grow in the poorest of soil, survive storms,
snow, frosts and extreme heat and still give steadilty increasing
crops over their considerable lifespan.
As most of the land here is mountainous, the
trees grow in steep plantations and are tended by hand or tractors.
The crop is picked between December and March and taken to the olive
sorting stations, mills or co-operatives where it is processed into
the best olive oil. In recent years, many mills and co-operatives
have attained "Denominacion de Origen" for their oils,
some of which are the finest in the world.
Rural life around Al-Queria cottage is reliant
on olive farming and most people are either full-time farmers or
have other jobs and just tend their olive trees at the weekend.
Our own olive trees are looked after by a local
couple, Domingo and Loli, who are full-time farmers and still care
for our land in the traditional way, by hand.
They put in a tremendous amount of hard work
in return for the annual crop and we get some olive oil and a lot
of firewood in exchange.
This is a good deal for us as it keeps our land
tended properly, the trees producing their crop, two of our neighbours
provided with a bit of extra income and it allows us a lot more
time to look after our guests...
We even get to sit out in the sunshine occasionally....
Before we started living and working at the farm,
we lived in a tiny house in the the old part of Ruté, a pueblo
about 30 minutes drive away.
Our neighbours were extremely friendly and welcomed
us without reservation. Some of their habits and ways amused us
at first but after a while we came to understand just why local
life followed the pattern that that it did.
Hot summer nights meant that you didn't go to
bed but stayed up until 3:00am talking in the street, just to keep
cool.
The following morning you would get up at 7:00am
and start your day before it got too hot.
At 2:00pm it was too hot to work so you stopped
for lunch for two or three hours and then, when the sun was casting
longer shadows, you finished your day's work up until about 9:00pm.
The summertime habits are carried over into the
cooler months except that much more manual work is carried out as
it physically more feasable.
In the mornings, the street was always alive
with women cleaning and sweeping outside their front doors and we
came to realise that this was not necessarily being "house
proud" but rather an opportunity to gossip with the neighbours
and anyone else that passed by.
Traditionally, local people get up, go to work
and then stop for breakfast at about 10:30am. Lunch is from 2:00pm
onwards and a later meal is taken at about 10:00pm. The pattern
seems very logical as it allows one to digest each meal and then
to "work it off".
The renowned Spanish lifestyle as portrayed by
outsiders is in fact very hard working but with a twist...
The family is interwoven into Spanish life so
that many working people return home to their families for lunch,
they stay up with their children at night and visit relatives houses
on an almost daily basis.
One of the pleasures of living here is to have
lunch at a restaurant on a Sunday and observe the huge family gatherings
which include several generations all at one table, all talking,
all eating and all enjoying their own company.
All we can say is, "come and see it all
for yourself"
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